EXCLUSIVE: Visceral Action- A Conversation with CRANK, GAMER & PANAMA Director Mark Neveldine!

I knew when I was a kid that I wanted to work in film, but I didn’t know what that meant.  I did plays in high school & college, and then continued writing, directing and acting in plays in NYC. I quickly realized that getting into film was much different and bought a Canon XL1 and because I had no clue what I was doing people started to take notice because I directed things in an unconventional way.

 I just look at the material and start making a plan.  Because I started the business 75K in debt I had to get creative and started filming on my rollerblades, trying to capture characters in an organic way. Then all of my filmmaking followed this path.

 Brian and I wanted to find a character that would lend itself to our filmmaking style. We were having a couple (cases) mugs of beer and started laughing about a guy who would die if he stopped moving. Movies were getting ridiculous, and we wanted to jump off of that.

 We were talking about the singularity before it was a buzz word. Brian was sort of a gamer and I hated it, only because I didn’t understand technology.  Brian could build a desktop computer in under an hour.  Ironically, I’m now a cryptocurrency nut, but I still don’t game.  It was our warning to humans about where society was going, packaged inside of this wild dystopian world. But really this is much a longer discussion. Thanks for liking this movie. Gerry did a great job.

  Morgan & Frank were attached, then covid hit.  I thought it was dead.  After I moved to Nashville, I got a call from Cole saying that we should make the film in December of 2020.  It was exciting and we decided to accept the challenge of filming this movie in 14 days at the height of covid.

 Early in my career I would tell people that Mel & Sly were the reasons I got into to the business, so needless to say working with Mel was bucket list shit.  He was a total pro.  Working with Cole was incredible on so many levels. He’s a real actor’s actor and he’s just coming into his stardom. He called me and we hit it off immediately.  We both wanted to make a fun 80’s style movie and he’s coming off this major hit with Yellowstone. Additionally, my wife, Alison, and Cole worked on White Oleander together, so when Cole called it was like listening to two old friends catching up. The whole experience with Cole & Mel was surreal.  I wish it was a 6-month shoot!

 I always want the camera directly in the action.  I don’t love CGI.  I work with the best stunt coordinators and stunt men and women to choreograph scenes that just feel real no matter how heightened the tone might be. On this short shoot I would have been lost without Frank Blake, my stunt coordinator.  Frank was the only crew member I was allowed to bring because of covid.  Longer story here. That said, everyone should film in Puerto Rico because their crews are incredible, and they studied my past films so they were primed and ready to get it done. I wish we could have spent a longer time with them.

It’s easy for us to believe that Cole can live in this world because he’s a natural.  He’s this 6’2 athlete who can shoot, ride motorcycles, fight like a prize-winning pugilist, and he’s going to win many awards for his acting in the coming years.  Cole makes filming easy.

I think you’re talking about a shot of me on rollerblades behind Jason.  Most of Crank 1 & 2 I directed on rollerblades to give them a really kinetic feel.  You also need rollerblades to keep up with Statham. He’s a lightning bolt.

I feel like I’m just beginning.  I finally understand what the hell I’m doing. I mean this. I see things differently.  Now that my 3 kids are potty trained, I’m excited to really dive back in and commit to making classics, mostly cult classics. I want to look at everything again and I’m back to writing and personifying madness.

I want them to remember a time when it was OK to drink a beer, kick ass and take names.  Turn off your damn phones and have some fun.

NET ZERO, THE OLYMPIANS, and the Crank Cinematic Universe will be invading your lives again next year.

Thanks!

Mel Gibson and Cole Hauser star in the edge-of-your-seat action thriller set during the political upheaval of 1989 Panama. When the U.S. is on the brink of invading Panama, a former marine (Hauser) is hired by a CIA operative (Gibson) for a top-secret arms trade mission. Alone and among the most dangerous arms dealers, Becker (Hauser) learns the true nature of political power.